REI TI Ware Non-Stick Pot

Last week I upgraded to a new REI 1.3 L titanium pot with a non stick coating for easy cleanup. For years, all I did was boil water for freezer bag meals on the trail and I didn’t need a non-stick coating. But these days, I want the option of eating richer meals in winter and on longer, multi-day backpacking trips.

Except for the non-stick coating, this pot is identical to the Evernew titanium pot that I already own. It has insulated fold away handles that collapse along the outside of the pot for easy packing and storage. In addition, it has a pour spout, which I find useful for pouring boiling snow melt into bottles and for draining extra water off of my ramen noodles. The inside also has embossed volume lines for measuring out half a liter and one liter of water, for those special gourmet recipes.

Weightwise, the REI non-stick pot weighs 5.6 oz, while the uncoated Evernew pot weighs 4.8 oz, so the weight penalty for the non-stick version is not that bad.

Contrary to popular lore, titanium pots are quite strong and will hold their shape when stuffed into a tight backpack. They don’t dent easily unless mishandled and they don’t rust, ever. I’ve been using them for years now, and they’ve held up well for me.

Disclosure: The author owns this product and purchased it using their own funds.

Titanium cookware has its drawbacks, as do aluminum and stainless. I am quite happy to cope with the “drawbacks” of Evernew’s 1.3L ti pot. It rides easily in my backpack and cooks what I want. People who like to burn food in titanium pots should instead: use a smaller flame, stir more often and make sure their food has a substantial water component. It does what I need done. If people can’t cook properly with Ti, just use something lots heavier and cheaper.

hard to do that with rice and rice is always my staple when bike touring or backpacking. BUT, a flattened can or a piece of stainless metal underneath when cooking or frying with my Whisperlite solves the problem.

Try it. It may have hot spots since Ti is a bit thin and tends to transmit the heat unevenly. If it does and you need to do something other than boiling water, getting a small disk of Aluminum (or similar) to be a heat diffuser will solve it (and be lighter than a thicker pan on its own).

"as the crow flies" blog has an idea where you use the end of a silicon spatula to clean the pots, which is probably a good idea if you cook in the pot.

This REI pot is actually made by Evernew. I've got the Evernew Ti pot (w/o non-stick). The quality of Evernew products (&REI) is fantastic. Evernew has come out with a Ti Alcohol stove and in the next couple weeks is coming out with a wood burner for it. I'm so impressed with it I decided to try being a dealer for Evernew (this is not a plug for me – really since I haven't started selling their stuff yet). They are shipping me several Ti Alcohol/wood stove sets as soon as they are ready. When I get my hands on one I'll try it out and review it on my blog ASAP.

I have the Snow Peak Titanium Mini Solo Cookset and have been extremely happy with it for boiling water for two people. My only gripes are that the handle for the lid is difficult to use with gloves on & I had to etch my own volumn marks on the inside of the pot.

For backcountry cooking for a group, I have the COLEMAN Rendezvous™ Aluminum Non-Stick Cook Kit. Huge weight penalty but you can really cook a great meal with this set.

One set for when I camp in order to do more hiking and one set for when I hike to do more camping.

I bought this pan when it first came out so long ago and have boiled at least 30 gallons of water in it for Freeze Dried Meals and Oatmeal, Tea and Chocolate…But what I liked the most about the pan was the Width..My usual Goal for Hiking is finding "Fish"..Peak bagging got boring years ago so the call of the wild set in and with everyone going nuts over "Wild Foods" I got knee deep into it..Makes a great container for collecting wild weeds for a salad and collecting Snow.

This pot because of the width will cook an average size, beheaded Trout, cut in too, and sometimes two if you squeeze or their small, very nicely. Some of my hiking Buds in the past even brought "Pre-Seasoned" Olive Oil and Cannola Oil as well as Zip-loc bag of "Pre Seasoned" bread crumbs..I craft a set of Tongs with some none-resinous downed wood then flattened out with my Victorinox Swiss classic, a small rounded piece of wood in the middle and two rubber bands. This works better than trying to use a spoon, fork or Spork,,Hate Sporks, they rip up and tear up the bottom of my pans.. I am now experimenting with the Sno-Peak Solo set but have packed my Titiumn fry pan just in case…Let us know how you use that pan…

I see all the aluminum fans are talking up the superior heat spreading characteristics of the material. While this may be true of the 5 mm thick pans intended for home use, I submit that, as thin as backcountry pans are and as hot as our stoves are, the material doesn't make that much of a difference- it's easy to burn things if you aren't attentive to your cooking. It's going to be hard to produce a nice Béchamel in any camp cookware.

Several years ago I switched from a Sigg Tourist aluminum pot to a MSR Ti pot. I noticed immediately how easy the pot was to clean because nothing stuck to it even though it didn't have a nonstick coating. The anodized surface of Ti has great nonstick qualities, in fact the Danish company Scanpan makes high end nonstick pans for home use that have a Ti-based coating rather than Teflon.

Titanium is a refractory metal, (meaning it has a very high melting point) so it won't melt if it boils dry on your stove. Although I haven't tried it, theoretically you could clean it by heating it until it was red hot and burning all the crud off!

I looked at that new Dualist set at REI a week or so ago and was not impressed. I know the colors annoyed me right off..I hate seeing Blue, Orange, Yellow, and Red, out in the woods…I think I'm at some corner Taco stand or something…Aside from this item I have refrained from buying at lot of Gear because of the color…Nothing Screams and irratates me more than the color of some of these tents

I believe what we cook in is just as important as to what we sleep in, hide under, and wear..it not more important.. I have an assortment of "Sets" going back to 1970 and on some trips depending on the menu I may carry alumminum, steel and titianum because of the difference characteristics of the metal under heat or fire.. For instance, I've been asking the manufacturers at every REI,A-16,Campmor, meeting presentation, offering, for over 30 years for a Fry Pan with a non-stick surface with a "LID"!!! A two inch deep fry pan, with straight walls, a pouring lip and a nice solid Lid,,,but to no avail, cause they know it would be the perfect pot for everything and therefore not sell much of any thing else..But that is my opinion..Trying to get Lodge Cast Iron people to do the same thing! Gotta go be back in a week or so…

eddie – the GSI kettle is HA aluminum. There are two versions, one that has a nestled bowl, cup, and plastic spork, and one that doesn't. Interesting the dimensions of the two kettles are very slightly off on both the REI and GSI site, one a 1 liter kettle and the other 1 quarter with very slight exterior differences. I think that they are the same kettle and emailed GSI for confirmation. The names of kettles are the Haulite Ketalist and the Hae Tea Kettle. REI lists the weight of the kettle as 5.5 oz. which slightly lighter than Phil's pot. It sells for $19.95. REI had the Ketalist with the nesting pots in stock and it is a very cool kettle. The Ketalist lists for $29.95. Optimus makes a HA .7L pot call the Optimus Terra Kettle that sells for $17.95. REI no longer carries Optimus products but I may order the Optimus as I like the handle better and the the only negative on REI customer reviews with GSI is with its handle. Nahh, knowing me I will probably order both the GSI and Optimus so I can compare them side by side. I really like the idea of a kettle for morning oatmeal, coffee, etc.

Ti certainly has it's place but I think that it is over used in cookware, even with the fast-and-light crowd. For example, I recently replaced my Snow Peak Ti French Press with a GSI Lexan french press (which is not on the GSI site but Moosejaw carries it). They weigh about the same but the Ti loses too much heat during the 4 minute brewing period. You can tell that I take my java seriously. FWIW – my tent stakes and spork are Ti and they rock.